Gov. John Hickenlooper continues to sidestep a major question that is undercutting his Mr. Positive Campaign image.
The Democrat, who has vowed to only run positive campaign ads, is benefiting from millions spent on TV ads attacking Republican rival Bob Beauprez, aired on Hickenlooper’s behalf by a Democratic Governors Association-backed group.
But as Republicans label his approach “hypocritical,” Hickenlooper is dodging the issue. Asked in the Denver Post debate Tuesday whether he would call on them to halt the attacks, Hickenlooper said his tongue is tied.
“The law says I’m not allowed to know or talk to or even shout out to the press what any independent expenditures should or shouldn’t do,” he said.
It’s in the 2012 campaign. But it’s not exactly accurate.
The law prohibits coordination between a candidate’s committee and outside political groups, but election experts say the candidate is not muzzled from taking a stand on the ad’s content or its presence in the campaign.
“I don’t know of a rule that you can’t publicly say you disagree with that ad,” said Larry Noble, former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission for 13 years who works at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington.
What would be problematic is a situation where Hickenlooper or his campaign communicate privately with the DGA-backed group, Making Colorado Great, about the ad. But, Noble continued, “saying publicly that, ‘I want them to take down that ad’ … that, in an of itself, is not coordination.”
Romney realized the same thing in 2012 and backtracked from his remarks. Asked if Hickenlooper would do the same, campaign spokesman Eddie Stern declined Wednesday to directly answer the question.
At the debate, Beauprez said the ad “crosses the line of libel.” He criticized Hickenlooper for not taking a stand. “You didn’t hear him say anything decrying the ad that’s running against me right now,” Beauprez said. “The ad that the DGA is running against me is patently false and he ought to stand up and say that because he knows that’s true.
the Making Colorado Great ad, which ties his family’s one-time ownership of Heritage Bank to his voting record in Congress.
The candidates shook hands saying their campaigns would remain positive, but don’t expect outside groups to do the same.
